Dodd: Prisoner swap not discussed on, ahead of Cuba trip

There was no talk of a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Cuba during his recent trip there, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday.

He also noted that, contrary to media speculation, there was no discussion of that possibility ahead of the trip.

The prisoners in question are American contractor Alan Gross, who was detained in Cuba in 2009 for allegedly distributing banned materials to civilian groups there, and five Cuban citizens jailed in the U.S. and accused of spying on military installations.

Cuban President Raul Castro has called on President Obama to free the five alleged spies.

Dodd, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, emphasized in response that Gross's case is different from the Cubans'.

He made the trip for talks on improving ties between the two countries, which have not had a full diplomatic relationship since the 1950s.